Expat Cyprus News

New data shows that Brits in some of the most popular Mediterranean countries to relocate to can get their hands on antibiotics without too many problems.
Greece leads the way when it comes to dishing out prescriptions, with more than 39 daily antibiotic doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Cyprus is next on 31, while Luxembourg, France and Belgium (all 28 doses per day per 1,000 inhabitants) complete the top five.
Research from Public Health England...

British retirees looking to cash in their pensions could benefit because of changes to the rules regarding withdrawing lump sums that will be introduced in April.
The new regulations do not require a person to buy an annuity, while an added bonus for those wanting to take out large amounts before moving overseas is that there will be a reduction to the tax charge imposed – which currently stands at 55 per cent – when withdrawing cash from a pension pot.
As of April this year, anybody aged 55 or above will have more freedom to...

Britain’s Electoral Commission has launched a campaign to urge citizens living overseas to register to vote in time for the general election on 7 May.
The UK High Commission in the Cypriot capital Nicosia noted that it was the first British election in which people could register online to cast their votes, adding that it hoped the initiative would lead to more expats taking part.
According to recent estimates, around 5.5 million British nationals live abroad, but less than 20,000 are on the electoral registers. In order to...

Thousands of UK expats across the Europe are campaigning to ensure their winter fuel payments are not scrapped, and many have now taken to sending photos to show just how cold conditions are in the countries they live in during the winter months.
Under a new government proposal, expats living in Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, France, Malta, Cyprus and Greece will no longer receive their winter fuel allowances (around £200- £300 per year) as of next winter because the countries they live in are considered too warm.
However, expats in...

British expat pensioners in the Mediterranean nation of Cyprus are fighting tooth and nail to keep their winter fuel benefits after a proposal to take the allowance away from them due to the climate they live in was tabled.
The UK government is considering taking winter fuel allowances away from pensioners from 2015-16 if the country they live in has an average annual temperature than the proposed set level. This ruling would not only would affect expats in Cyprus, but also other European nations such as Spain, Portugal, France, Malta...

British expats living in Cyprus are ready to campaign against the UK government’s proposal to stop their winter fuel allowance from next year.
Expats residing in the Mediterranean country have said the eligibility tests that UK citizens have to go through to see if they’re entitled to the winter fuel payments were “unfair and sneaky”.
The UK government announced last year that as of 2015, winter fuel payments would no longer be made to citizens living abroad unless they lived in countries that had an average winter...

The latest financial scandal to rock the expat world has resulted in massive losses due to the activities of commission-hungry rogue salesmen and greedy product providers.
Individual losses range between many hundreds of thousands to pension pots of £100,000 or less, with the staggering total making the collapse of the unregulated LMIM fund one of the most damaging since the 2008 crash. Warnings about the instability of the investment had been circulating online since 2009, when long delays in honouring redemption requests first set...

A recently released survey warns that would-be expats seeking a new life overseas should watch out for hidden hurdles such as tax and currency issues or unfamiliar legalities.
Up to 400,000 Brits emigrate every year, with most citing a more relaxed lifestyle as a major reason for their life-changing decision. However, the survey revealed that it’s not the most alien destinations as regards language and culture which cause the most stress – it’s mostly all-time favourite English-speaking countries such as Australia and the...

Financial advisors providing QROPS pension transfers to expat investors are fearful that the UK’s HMRC is planning to suspend India’s position as a QROPS jurisdiction.
Alarms were raised in the sector after the authority rushed out a revised list of QROPS just days after the regular list was issued. On the new list, five previously authorised India-based QROPS were shown as suspended.
Since the beginning of 2013, 19 India QROPS have been marked as suspended, leaving just seven of the original 26 pensions still able to accept UK...

The international real estate sector has traditionally been a favourite with expat property investors, but it’s anyone’s guess which locations will perform best over the long term.
Over the past year, the UK housing market has seen soaring gains, with many expat investors eager to cash in on buy-to-let opportunities before they are priced out of the market. As the year draws to a close, many are finding they can’t afford properties in areas already saturated with foreign buyers, and are looking overseas to find the next hotspot....